KARACHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) dropped by 51 percent during the first five months of this fiscal year (FY23).
According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan fetched FDI amounting to $430 million during July-Nov of FY23 as against $885 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year (FY22). During the period under review, overall FDI inflows were $681 million as against $ 1.306 billion inflows in the previous year.
The detailed analysis showed that even though China’s overall FDI decreased by 20% to $103 million from July to November of FY23, it still holds the greatest 24 percent share of all FDI. During the first five months of current fiscal year, Switzerland came in third with $58 million in direct investment, followed by the UAE with $81 million.
Major investments of $204 million were made in the power industry during the period under review, followed by $141 million in the financial services sector and $40 million in oil and gas exploration.
The portfolio investment also registered a downward trend with an outflow of $14.8 million during July-Nov of FY23.
According to SBP, total foreign investment in Pakistan, comprising foreign direct investment, portfolio investment and foreign public investment shrunk by 27 percent or $145.2 million to $397.2 million in July-Nov of FY23 compared to some $542 million in the same period of FY22.
Month-on-month basis, foreign direct investment stood at $82 million in November 2022 compared to $158.4 million.
